Winnipeg judge decried lack of housing supports for 14-year-old girl day before teen's stabbing death
Amidst focus on MMIWG, 'how is that not a priority to see that she has the resources?' judge asks
A Winnipeg judge last week condemned a system that left a vulnerable 14-year-old girl without the housing supports she needed after her release from custody.
A day later, the girl was dead.
"I just think in this province, at this time when we have the concerns on missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls — how is that not a priority to see that she has the resources?" provincial court Judge Kusham Sharma asked during a hearing for the teen on Dec. 14, a day before the girl was stabbed to death in downtown Winnipeg.
"I wonder what it takes to get that extra funding for people who are at risk — at such a risk," the judge said.
"The residence is a major part of … what's going to keep her away from the risk."
Police said the girl was with a group of teens in the area of Graham Avenue and Fort Street early last Friday afternoon, when an argument broke out.
A 17-year-old boy abruptly pulled out a knife and stabbed her multiple times before running away, police allege.
The boy has been charged with second-degree murder.
The day before the stabbing, the provincial court heard that the girl's social worker was trying to set up a specialized placement with the kind of support the teen needed.
She struggled with a serious addiction, frequently ran away from foster homes and was on a waiting list to be assessed for fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, court was told.
WATCH | Teen boy charged with 2nd-degree murder in downtown stabbing:
But social worker Tammy Oram said the province wouldn't fully fund the kind of placement the teen needed, so Oram was seeking other options.
"What [she] needs and what will be best for her, the province will not fund," the social worker told the court.
Those other options Oram said she was exploring included seeking money under Jordan's Principle — a policy that states that when federal and provincial governments disagree over which is responsible for providing health or educational services to First Nations children, they must help the child first and sort out the bills later.
Oram said the backlog in that federal program meant it hadn't been of any help.
The teen was in custody after threatening an outreach worker and biting his arm, court was told.
She had also violated court-ordered conditions including curfew and a requirement to stay away from a homeless encampment where she'd spent time before — a place Judge Sharma said "can be quite dangerous" for a young person.
The girl repeatedly asked questions at the end of the hearing about when she would have a placement and where it might be.
Court was told that if the social worker was unable to find somewhere for the teen by 4 p.m. that day, she would be given an emergency placement.
The social worker said she was also working to change the girl's status from a provincially funded child to a federally funded one living off-reserve — which "opens up the doors for her" in terms of funding — or find a home for the girl and another youth with similar needs, which would open up provincial funding.
"It's not fair for [her] right now that we just don't have the people out there to be able to bring her in, make a connection and give her what she needs for more success," Oram said.
"Unfortunately, we have many youth that have similar needs to [hers] or are in similar predicaments, and they're all considered a priority."
A Thursday statement from Manitoba Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine called the teen's death "heartbreaking."
The emailed statement noted the Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth will be reviewing the girl's death and the circumstances surrounding it, and Fontaine promised the NDP government "will work hard to minimize the risks for our most vulnerable youth, including Indigenous girls."
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